I’m fortunate to have been a Nordic skier in a period spanning wood skis to synthetic, dragged-sled to Pisten Bully grooming, Koch to Diggins, Wise to Popp, the advent of skating, double poling massive distances, liquid waxes, rillers that aren’t essentially grill brushes, and the international coalition of citizen races to get us out of our own back yards. I never felt more at home with my peculiar skiing proclivity than when – thanks to the Birkebeiner – I first shuffled from Rena to Lillehammer with thousands of like-minded enthusiasts. Nor when we “Central Dogs” found each other to our mutual support and traveled miles upon miles to race yet another race. Ultimately to have a family who have tolerated and even enjoyed this winter addiction. I’ve had many jobs but no lifelong career other than skiing. And no greater reward than finding friends and family to enjoy Nordic sport with.

Gary is skiing his 45th Birkie from wave 35 in 2025. He coached high school Nordic skiing for 30 years and taught high school science in the Osseo school district in suburban Minneapolis. He lives with his wife, Terry in St. Paul and they are proud owners of a cabin in the woods near Stone Lake, Wisconsin to be near the Birkie trail and all the area has to offer for year round enjoyment and adventure.

Gary hunts, fishes, and rides his bike when he's not skiing. He's pictured at one of his favorite places.

I grew up in Scotland where there was downhill skiing but no cross country. That changed when I moved to Montreal to do a post-doc in neuroscience at McGill University. North of Montreal, in the Laurentian Hills, were trails cut by, Jack Rabbit Johannsen, a Norwegian immigrant and ski legend. I started on wooden skis and progressed over the next five years to ski in the Canadian Ski Marathon. I moved to Madison in 1982 to join the faculty at UW, in good part, so I could ski the Birkie. So, 43 years later, I have skied the race39 times. It has been a major part of my adult life. During these years, I raced a lot, did the Norwegian Birkie 3 times, the Canadian Birkie and the Marcialonga. Now I race less but have the pleasure of doing a long ski in the woods on the classic trail on the open track Wednesday, and.My greatest pleasure and pride now are that my older son has skied 15 Birkies and hiswife, my daughter and her husband, they are all doing the race and in fast times!

I have lived all my life in Minnesota. I went to school in Minnesota, had a business career in Minnesota, raised a family in Minnesota and am enjoying my 9th year of retirement in Minnesota.

My skiing interest started when, at a young age, my father introduced me to it on wooden skis with cable bindings. Over the years I have found great joy in a variety of silent sports, including cycling, sailing, paddling, backpacking and nordic skiing. The Birkebeiner has been an important part of my life, off and on, for almost 50 years. 

Journalist and author Jerome “Jerry” P. Poling, a lifelong Wisconsin resident, has finished 25 American Birkebeiners along with four Kortelopets and has reported on the race for more than 30 years. He has published four other books, including two on the Green Bay Packers, one on Henry Aaron, and one on the history of the University of Wisconsin-Stout. He was a longtime reporter and editor at the Eau Claire-Leader-Telegram, communications manager at UW-Stout and freelance writer. Poling, who has a master’s degree in English literature, lives in Eau Claire. 

Jim Kelley grew up in the hills of western Massachusetts.  He ran high school cross country and spring track, and raced nordic xc and competed in nordic jumping in winter. He received a B.S. in Wildlife Management from the U of Maine, and M.S. in Wildlife from the U of Missouri.  He worked as a biologist for 27 years with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Division of Migratory Bird Management before retiring.  On the recommendation from a friend, Jim did his first of 27 Birkies in 1997 after being out of the sport for over 15 years due to school/job locations.  He moved to Wisconsin 3 years later due to his passion for the Birkie and northwest Wisconsin. Jim lives with his wife Lindsay and stepson Payden, along with many animals, in Centuria, WI about 1.5 hours south of the Birkie start line.

John Kotar is a Birkie Founder, creator of the Birchleggings Club, and former member of the ABSF Board of Directors. He completed the Birkie 39 times, as well as the Canadian and Norwegian Birkebeiners, many World Loppet races, and innumerable local and regional races. He frequently placed in the top of his age-class. Professionally he was faculty and researcher at UM-Duluth, Michigan Tech Univ. and UW-Madison in forestry. He is widely known for his guides to Habitat Typing in the Great Lakes region, and work with state DNRs, the U.S. Forest Service, tribal enterprises, and private landowners. John lives in Cable, WI with his wife Nina who is also a Birchlegger.

I grew up in Blaine, MN and started skiing my Sophmore year in high school.  I finished 5th individually and our team Won the State meet that year.  I went on to finish 3rd individually  in both my Jr and Sr years.  That success took me to Montana State where I competed on the Nordic team for 4 years.  That launched me to the US Development team and I chased the Olympic dream while living in Fairbanks, AK for the next few years.  I competed in 3 Olympic trials and qualified for a couple of trips overseas. I met my husband (Brad) when I moved back to MN and it’s been great that he’s a skier too. Sometimes I beat him in the Birkie and sometimes he beats me, we have a friendly rivalry!  We’ve completed 8 World Loppet races and plan to do more. As we approached retirement we knew we wanted to be someplace where there was snow so we moved North to Marquette, MI.  

Kim Rudd founded Endurance Adventures. Her passion for Nordic skiing started while racing in high school and being exposed to the famous Minnesota Finlandia ski race. She continued to ski race in college at Bemidji State University, where she met her soulmate and adventure partner, Craig Rudd. Kim has enjoyed racing for Team Rossignol for thirty years in various ski marathons around the Midwest and internationally. She also enjoys mountain biking and canoe/SUP adventures, as well as coaching youth and adults at the Loppet Foundation. Kim is certified as a Level 200 BICP and Level 200 USSA Nordic coach. She is excited to share her passion for travel, cycling, and Nordic skiing with other like-minded adventure seekers! Her hobbies include gardening, cooking, reading, traveling, and bike packing!

Kitty is an avid nordic skier who is passionate about outdoor adventures involving challenging the limits of physical and mental capacity.  When she is not dreaming about, training or participating in such activities, she is living in St. Paul, MN,  

Kitty is married and has three children.  The family is active and nordic skiing is a big part of their lives. After years of MYSL participation, the kids started to train with their local high school, Highland Park.  

Kitty works as a Physician Assistant, and is a graduate of University of Wisconsin- Madison Physician Assistant program.  She works at Hennepin County Medical Center as an Addiction Medicine Inpatient Consultant. 

Kurt Schroeder , La Crosse, WI

Uberlegger, Early Morning Aerobic Group member, Outdoor Recreation enthusiast, sailor, tennis player, cyclist. 

husband, father, grandfather, retired architect 

Dr Schaefer is the Chief of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at University Hospitals in Cleveland, OH. 

A lifelong athlete, he grew up ski-racing in Wisconsin, but moved to Ohio at the age of 12.  He competed in track and field at Case Western Reserve winning the “All-Ohio” collegiate championship in the javelin, and qualified for the NCAA nationals in decathlon.  During med school he started bike racing and rekindled his childhood love of cross country skiing and started making the annual trip to the Birkie with his parents Phil and Jean, and sister Bethany.  Even after moving back to Ohio in his early 30s, he continued ski racing, winning both the Ohio and Pennsylvania Nordic championship events and placing third overall in a  “Michigan Cup” Nordic race. He qualified  for the “elite wave” in the Birkie twice.  He and his wife Jill are proud parents of two active daughters who are now in their 20s. 

I am married with three wonderful adult children. Our whole family skis in the Birkie or Korte. Every year we host a large group of skiers we’ve recruited to become racers and we host a post-race celebration at our small cabin outside of Hayward.

Before I retired in 2022, I was VP-Partner of Strategy at ICF Next and on the leadership team where I led 1-to-1 strategic consulting projects for fortune 500 clients.

After I retired in 2022, I took on marketing consulting projects for clients looking for my unique skills. As a life-long learner, I also went back to school as a full-time graduate student at the University of Minnesota working toward a MA in Health Coaching.

Paul is a retired second grade teacher, Returned Peace Corps Volunteer where he taught biology in Malaysian Borneo in the early 70's and founded Cool Planet to get people outside to enjoy what they love and protect their communities from a warming, wacky climate future.

I’m married with three wonderful adult children. Mike Sund and I were each other’s best man, and we’ve been skiing together for nearly 50 years—except on race day, when he routinely beats me. Our families have tracked closely over the years, though Mike did a better job getting his into Nordic skiing and the Birkie. My wife Laurie exited the sport after one Kortie, announcing at the OO finish, “I need to find a new sport!” I may have pushed our oldest, Griffin, into the Barnebirkie too early; he quit Nordic for nearly 20 years (possibly due to clowns on the course) but is now fully back. Our daughters, Lindsey and Jenna, are working their way up through Prince Haakon and Kortie.

We host a lively Birkie Week crowd from around the country, a tradition that began when we bought a Hayward-area cabin. I retired in January 2025 after a long career in construction management and now consult, dabble in land development, and learn how to be a grandparent.

Scott Cooper finished his 40th Birkebeiner ski race (and still counting) in 2025. Scott also turned 70 prior to the race, and proudly wore the 70-Year Bib. “After trying to get back into earlier waves for the past couple  years, I was surprised and very pleased to learn all I had to do was get older and not faster.”

Scott spent his professional career in Marketing and is now retired. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin with his wife Liz, just up the street from his second of four sons, Birk. (Birk was born near race time, one of the few races Scott missed since his first  in 1978.)  

When not fretting about training for the Birkebeiner or what the conditions will be on race day, Scott stays happily busy with 10 grandchildren.

Terry Berry was a beloved father of five and an avid Birkie skier who taught his children to ski as soon as they could walk. Born in Portage, WI, Terry's love of winter began with ice skating, competing in the Pairs and Dance categories until an injury halted his career.

Ever the athlete, Terry embraced new challenges, including marathons, triathlons, Birkie skiing, and other ski races. He was a true outdoorsman, enjoying hiking Colorado's 14'ers, kayaking, and building a log cabin in Northern Wisconsin for his family.

A social worker by profession, Terry was a thoughtful, patient, and gentle man who dedicated his life to improving the world. Terry passed away in Bend, OR, in 2024 after a courageous battle with cancer. He had been training for his 42nd Birkie in 2025. Terry is deeply missed by his children and his best friend and wife of 35 years, Diane Berry.

I’m a retired family medicine physician from the Twin Cities (most of my life). I’m married to Cindy Gerst since 1991. We live on the Yellow River west of Spooner, WI. 

I volunteer with the American Birkebeiner, Neighbor to Neighbor (Spooner), Hunt Hill Nature Center, Wisconsin Master Naturalists and the Wisconsin Canoe Heritage Museum. 

I’m an avid traveler, hiker, pilgrim, cyclist, swimmer and enjoy caring for the Japanese-style garden at our home and our two cats, Mugi & Lulu. 

Travis Hinck was on my ski teams in the early 2000's and graduated from Park Center High School in 2001. His senior year we were conference champs for the only time in our history. He has skied every Birkie since then and now has 23 Birkies under his belt. This makes him one of the youngest class of Birchleggers. In those years he has been as high as 15th in the Classic race and in the elite wave almost every year. In this episode he talks about his relatively laid back approach to training and how the Birkie experience has evolved over the years.